Day: July 1, 2011

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently released the 12th Report on Carcinogens, a science-based document that identifies chemicals and biological agents that may put people at increased risk for cancer.

The industrial chemical formaldehyde and a botanical known as aristolochic acids are listed as known human carcinogens. Six other substances – captafol, cobalt-tungsten carbide (in powder or hard metal form), certain inhalable glass wool fibers, o-nitrotoluene, riddelliine, and styrene – are added as substances that are reasonably anticipated to be human carcinogens. With these additions, the 12th Report on Carcinogens now includes 240 listings. It is available at http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/go/roc12, as well as the Public Health Library’s Cancer Resources web page.

The listing of formaldehyde and styrene, two widely used chemicals, was fought by the chemical industry. Release of the report was held up, but the report was finally released a few weeks ago.

View the press release from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. View a blog post from the Natural Resources Defense Council describing the controversy.

It’s summertime, and although not many new books came in this June, that doesn’t mean the summertime blues are hanging around here. No sir, that is not the case here in Graduate Services because the ten books we did get this June are ten great summertime reads. For example, the Fourth of July is coming up and you’ll probably be saying the Pledge of Allegiance quite a bit, so why not come here a few days before and read Giorgio Agamben’s latest book, The Sacraement of Language, which is an archaeology of the oath. Don’t pledge blindly this Fourth of July holiday, pledge knowingly. Now, anyone one who knows anything knows nothing says summer fun like a manifesto, which is why kicking back in Graduate Services next to a window reading Alain Badiou’s Second Manifesto for Philosophy is the perfect way to spend a summer afternoon. The heat from the warm sun and the energy from so much proclaming just warms up those butterflys in your stomach. But don’t worry, it doesn’t get hot enough for them to curdle. And finally, if you are longing for those long discourses with faculty members you’re used to engaging in from August to May, well, we have a few books here from Lyn Hejinian and Ishmal Reed to get you engaged. A book of poetry, a book of essays about poetry, and a novel from these two should make you feel like the spring semester never ended and the summer one never began. Enjoy.

It’s the month of May. The month that celebrates that wonderful auxiliary verb we all love. It expresses possibility as well as the ability and capacity to do something. And with that in mind, may I introduce you to A.L. Kennedy. She is a writer, a comedian, and now she is a part of the Modern Authors Collection in Graduate Services. Three of her books are here now (So I Am Glad, Everything You Need, On Bullfighting) with more on the way in the coming months. After learning about being glad everything you need is bullfighting, may I suggest some other new titles for you to look into? The new one from UC Berkeley Emeritus professor Maxine Hong Kingston is ready to be read. A collection of Antonio Negri’s plays is here for your mind to perform. And if you really want to do some mental aerobics, there’s Hegel and Maurice Merleau-Ponty here to be your trainers. Add a little Ford Maddox Ford, Hanif Kureishi, Peter Matthiessen, and W.B. Yeats to the equation, and it looks like May may have the capicty to equal good days spent reading new books in Graduate Services. So gear up for getting down here to Graduate Services. You may like what you find.

Audience:This class is intended for CDPH staff who are already using PubMed and wish to learn some advanced features. It is recommended that you have already taken the PubMed Basics class or already have a basic understanding of and ability to search PubMed. This class will not cover what was covered in the PubMed Basics class.

Supervisors: Please encourage your staff to attend, if appropriate.

If you wish to attend, please RSVP by Monday, July 25th to Judy Bolstad at jbolstad@library.berkeley.edu or (510) 642-2510.

Please note: This class is limited to 12 participants. A waiting list will be created, if necessary, for an additional class.

Starting July 1, 2011, some electronic books from Ovid will be available for CDPH use. These E-Books were selected based on usage during our Ovid E-Books trial late last year and on comments from CDPH staff.

The electronic books available are:

Essentials of Epidemiology in Public Health (2nd edition, 2008)

Evidence-Based Public Health (2nd edition, 2010)

Lippincott Manual of Nursing Practice (9th edition, 2009)

Lippincott’s Nursing Procedures (5th edition, 2008)

Manual of Laboratory and Diagnostic Tests (8th edition, 2008)

Links to these e-books will soon appear on the Public Health Library’s CDPH Electronic Books web page and in the web portal. In the web portal, log in and click the “Electronic Books” link on the right side.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Debbie Jan at (510) 642-2510 or Debbie.Jan@cdph.ca.gov.

Also starting July 1st, two new electronic journal titles will become available for CDPH desktop use:

Clinical Infectious Diseases

Journal of Infectious Diseases

These are both highly used journals, and we are happy to be able to offer them for your use.

Based on comments from CDPH staff, one discontinued electronic journal title will have access restored:

Journal of Pediatrics

Unfortunately, due to cost increases and low use, several Ovid e-journals will be discontinued:

AIDS Patient Care & STDs

American Journal of the Medical Sciences

BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics &

Gynaecology

Clinical Obstetrics & Gynecology

Diabetes Care

JOGNN – Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, & Neonatal Nursing

Journal of the American Geriatrics Society

Journal of the National Cancer Institute

Mayo Clinic Proceedings

MCN, American Journal of Maternal Child Nursing

Nursing Research

Occupational Medicine

During the past 3 years, each of these journal titles averaged less than 24 downloaded, full-text articles annually. These changes will soon be reflected on the Public Health Library’s CDPH or web portal’s Full Text Electronic Journals web page.

However, please note that this does NOT mean that articles from these journals are unavailable to you; it just means that you will not have desktop access to them. You can still request them from your web portal or the Public Health Library document delivery form.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Debbie Jan at (510) 642-2510 or Debbie.Jan@cdph.ca.gov.

In a recent press release, the CDC says that the U.S. is making strides in the fight against AIDS and other diseases, as well as in areas such as infectious disease prevention, tobacco control, maternal and child health, traffic deaths and injuries, heart disease, cancer prevention, lead poisoning prevention, and public health preparedness. Check out the story at:

As of June 2, 2011, all PDF versions of books published by the National Academies Press (NAP) are downloadable free of charge to anyone. This includes the current catalog of more than 4,000 books plus future reports published by NAP. Free access to online content supports the mission of NAP to improve government decision-making and public policy, increase public education and understanding, and promote the acquisition and dissemination ofknowledge in matters involving science, engineering, technology, and health. Like no other organization, the National Academies can enlist the nation’s foremost scientists, engineers, health professionals, and other experts to address the scientific and technical aspects of society’s most pressing problems through the authoritative and independent reports published by NAP.